Yellen: End of Ukraine war best for world economy

The US treasury secretary bares a solution to a disrupted commerce

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AFP) — United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen heaped pressure on Russia on Monday ahead of the G20 summit in Indonesia, saying the best way to end world economic tumult was to stop the Ukraine war.

“Ending Russia’s war is a moral imperative and the single best thing we can do for the global economy,” Yellen told reporters as she met French counterpart Bruno Le Maire in Nusa Dua, on the resort island of Bali.

High fuel and food prices are among the top issues set to be discussed at the summit and few G20 countries have escaped the economic pain.

Yellen will hope to build diplomatic pressure for an end to the war by blaming Russia.

Yellen’s statement comes days after Ukrainian forces retook the city of Kherson from Russian occupiers who retreated.

“The Russian army left behind the same atrocities as in other regions of our country,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday in a nightly address.

“Investigators have already documented more than 400 war crimes,” the Ukrainian leader said, without clearly specifying the area in which they were found.

“The bodies of the killed are being found, both civilians and military,” he said. “We will find and bring to justice every murderer.”

Ukrainians in the liberated city have expressed a deep sense of relief over the end of months of occupation af ter Russian forces pulled out on Friday.

But, like Zelensky, they said the Russians had left a trail of destruction, laying mines and going on a looting spree — even stealing animals from a zoo — before their withdrawal.

‘Ending Russia’s war is a moral imperative and the single best thing we can do for the global economy.’

Zelensky said workers were moving to quickly restore critical infrastructure destroyed by the Russians, including water, electricity, Internet and television links, as well as transport and postal services.

Kherson was one of four regions in Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed to have annexed in September.

On Sunday, residents queued to get food, and many adults and children walked around wrapped in Ukrainian flags.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE LOCAL residents hug a Ukrainian soldier as they celebrate the liberation of Kherson after months of Russian occupation. Many locals said they felt a great sense of relief after Kyiv had wrested back control of the city.